Well, I would suspect at the very least artistic license. It took 8 posts to tell a story about something she did not witness one minute of in person. So yes, I also think it's odd that she can remember hand gestures and exact language about something that she was not there for 6 years ago. I'm glad you're not really associating with BIL anymore Mr. Kitty.

Yes. There might have been a little artistic license in this series of posts but I don't doubt the intrinsic truth of the thing. This is very different from the drama of the infamous 'Titanic Wedding' post. It feels real to me.

Perhaps it wasn't the best idea to offer a wine-tasting followed by a balloon ascension for someone who has problems with alcohol. However, the people who offered the excursions did not know what they were getting into although mrkitty warned them about the possibilities for disaster.

MrKitty, I didn't know we were related! We must make arrangements for a family reunion soon!

The drama in my family is unbelievable. I have a recently deceased relative who was infamous enough in his community that his death warranted a decently long article in the New York Times. He was well known for being, well, crazy. (If anybody's curious, PM me, but in the interest of anonymity, I don't want to post publicly, since my face was all over the local news at the time, and on a few national news bits). I can totally understand how relating stories like this and viewing them with humor can be therapeutic.

Thanks for posting. I was one of the people who wanted to hear the story, though I never posted anything asking for it.

Logged

Some people lift weights. I lift measures. It's a far more esoteric workout. - (Quoted from a personal friend)

That sounds like a wonderful time to stay HOME on the east coast for Thanksgiving.

I have two or three relatives (most male, not all brothers - one is the guy I'm married to) who don't seem to process "warnings" from me. I don't know if it's because I'm female, their sister/spouse, or they just "listening".

I define "listening" not just as "you heard me and made appropriate noises" but "you considered what I said before making a decision". But he may not have communicated to his wife (who was more likely the one getting the groceries, in many families) that they might want to consider a nice roast beast for their feast instead of a turkey. (They already had a turkey who would be sitting at the table - BIL might have issues with cannibalism.)

He may also have thought that WINE was less intoxicating than whiskey - but didn't realize that his sister & BIL were going to misbehave, in their different ways, at the wine bar. Because who expects people to act like brain damaged howler monkeys?

Thank you mrkitty! This definitely has been one of the most interesting reads on eHell ever! Entertaining in that strange, weird, "Oh no!!" tangled emotions way.

I'm lucky to have had a relatively "normal" family (I think), but have known families that did stuff like this all the time. At least know that, bizarre as this Thanksgiving must have been for those involved and for you just hearing about it, your family is clearly not the only one that has its 'very special people' doing astonishing things with and to each other. Congratulations for having achieved a sense of normalcy and balance for yourself and your own "made" family despite the apparent paucity of role models.

Stories like this are great for making one be grateful for what they have! My parents are toxic but at least family get togethers aren't quite like that!

Though I do have one uncle by marriage who I think is an alcoholic. Last time I saw him was at a family reunion held on my maternal grandparent's property. My aunt and uncle came and even his wife wouldn't even spend time near him. My dad's sister told me that she and another aunt on that side were trying to guess who T's husband was by who she was around most. Finally they gave up and asked her and they were shocked because he was not what they expected. At all. My mother told me her sister married the guy cause her options were marry him or go back home and beg her daddy for money.

Well M (I don't call him Uncle) was like that guy on King of the Hill, the one that mumbles and can't be understood? It gets even worse when he drinks, and my dadd's sister that was at this party told me that she was going down onto the pier (grandparents lived right on a river) and there were two teen girls walking down to the pier in front of her and he was leering at them. Aunt called him on it and from what I remember, he ignored her.

The aunt that married this charmer of a guy once tried to talk me out of getting married in the courthouse by saying "I eloped and look what happened!" I so wanted to say "You're miserable because of WHO you married, not HOW you married." but I bit my tongue.

Logged

Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars. You have a right to be here. Be cheerful, strive to be happy. -Desiderata

Oh my goodness, WHAT a story! MrKitty, thanks for posting that. You are well shot of that particular BIL.(I particularly liked the shrapnel from the chandelier glinting in the light, it made me giggle. Very well written!)

That's the problem - sane people find it hard to imagine the mental workings of those who are totally out of control. You can't quite understand that they can add 2 plus 2, and get purple.

Logged

My cousin's memoir of love and loneliness while raising a child with multiple disabilities will be out on Amazon soon! Know the Night, by Maria Mutch, has been called "full of hope, light, and companionship for surviving the small hours of the night."